US missiles kill 11 at Pakistan militant fort, say officials

The US uses drones to hunt down militants in the inaccessible areas of Pakistan's tribal belt. (AFP)

By

Agencies

PublishedThursday, January 07, 2010

US missiles flattened a fort used as a Taliban training centre in Pakistan's tribal belt yesterday, killing 11 militants, the latest in a recent spike of drone attacks, officials said.

A drone fired two missiles into the mud-brick fort in Sanzali village, about 30 km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, in the fourth suspected US missile attack in the tribal district in a week.

Just over an hour later, a suspected drone slammed another missile into a group of militants sifting through the wreckage, searching for survivors and picking out the dead bodies, Pakistani security officials said.

"Two foreigners died in the initial attack," a senior security official in the northwestern city of Peshawar said. Their nationalities were not clear. Arab, Uzbek and Afghan militants are present in the area.

"Five militants were killed in the previous attack and six in this attack," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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